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Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre in Afghanistan

September 4, 2014

The Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre in Afghanistan was launched on the 7th of August, 2014.

From one of the persistent foci of wars, a group of young Afghan Peace Volunteers at the Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre want to work nonviolently with the human family across all borders to abolish the socioeconomic, environmental, educational and military wars that are being waged in Afghanistan and the world today.

The Afghan Peace Volunteers at the launch of

the Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre on 7th Aug 2014

Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre

Mission: Build a critical mass of nonviolent relationships for a green, equal and nonviolent world without war.

We believe that revolution for a better world is grounded in nonviolent relationships, so we reject hatred and revenge, and we nurture equal relationships with nature & all human beings through local communities that connect with the human family worldwide, working together as a strong 99% to build a green, equal and nonviolent world without war.

Green : Eliminate the human causes of global warming

Equal : Build a nonviolent, cooperative economy where the basic needs of all are met ( especially of the most vulnerable people )

Nonviolent world without war: Abolish war and weapons, nurturing a non-violent, critical pedagogy.

The value we seek to practice: nonviolence ( love )

This is the first Centre in Afghanistan that is dedicated to nonviolence.

The Afghan Peace Volunteers seek to practice nonviolence in all aspects of life and community, including:

Tree planting in Kabul in a space where the volunteers wish to establish the Kabul Peace Park

– Use and promotion of non-fossil fuels and renewable energy. The Afghan Peace Volunteers have installed solar power at the Centre, and hope to install a miniature wind-power system in 2016.

The solar panel on the roof of Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre

– Permaculture Learning and practice: a small permaculture community vegetable garden has been started in Kabul, under the guidance of pioneer Australian permaculturalist, Rosemary Morrow. Rosemary will hold a permaculture workshop in Kabul in Feb 2016, and work has begun to establish a Permaculture Demonstration Plot in Kabul in 2016.

Hussein in the community permaculture vegetable plot

Afghan Peace Volunteers learning about permaculture last winter

– In 2016, a new project called the ‘Borderfree Cycling Club’ has been formed to encourage Afghan boys and girls to use the bicycle instead of motorcycles and cars.

The volunteers of the Borderfree Cycling Club riding their bicycles in Kabul

Students and teachers in the afternoon classes of the street kids school

– Winter duvet project

Workers lining up for their duvets in the Winter Duvet Project 2015

– Women’s tailoring cooperative

Our small Afghan women’s tailoring cooperative has closed temporarily and efforts are ongoing to re-start the project in March of 2016.

– Food Bank

Work has begun to establish a Food Bank in 2016. The Food Bank hopes to receive and store donated food items from Afghan shopkeepers, business persons and charitable groups, to be distributed to needy families, starting with the families of the 93 Afghan street kids at the Borderfree Afghan Street Kids School.

The Food Bank at the Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre, where volunteers will store and distribute donated food items

Some of the street kids with their oil and rice

– Microloans for Afghan labourers

Resources are being raised to administer interest-free microloans to five or six Afghan labourers in March of 2016, so that the Afghan labourers can start small street businesses.

– The #Enough! Campaign to abolish war was launched on the 21st of September 2015, the International Day of Peace. It is hoped that Borderfree Homes/Circles/ Communities/Space/Zones will be formed everywhere, through whom concrete alternative lifestyles will be built and solidarity non-violent actions ( with the Borderfree Blue Scarf ) will be organized, in order to build a green, equal and nonviolent world without war. The Afghan Peace Volunteers have begun making connections with different peace communities around the world, including Barefoot College in India, Jeju Island Peace Community, San Jose Peace Community in Colombia, the Okinawa anti-military base grassroots community and the Tamera community in Portugal.

– Borderfree Theatre : this group was established in December 2014 and in March 2015, they performed a play on drug addiction at the National Theatre in Kabul. The group has since taken a break while awaiting the availability of volunteer instructors.